The first-ever global conference of Israelis living abroad was held in Toronto, January 18-20, 2011 was sponsored by the UJA Federation of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

Our representatives from Israel: The Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI), The Israeli Ministry of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs and the Israeli non-profit organization Mishelanu.

The conference laid the first building blocks of establishing relationships among Israeli communities around the world, and their relationship with the local Jewish communities and the State of Israel.

The main speakers were Ted Sokolsky, President & CEO, UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, Natan Sharansky, Chairman of JAFI, Israel’s Minister of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs, Yuli Edelstein and Amir Gissin, Israel’s Consul General for Ontario and Western Canada and representatives of Israeli communities from around the world who discussed for the three days of the conference issues under the three pillars:

Building an Israeli Community Abroad – Israeli organizations around the World

The Relationship between the Israeli and Jewish Communities and how to move forward

The relationship between the State of Israel and the Israelis abroad

The conference represents a new approach towards Israelis living abroad by the State of Israel and the World Jewry and the understanding that strong partnership with Israelis abroad is essential to the State of Israel and the Jewish people around the world.

The conference addressed a strong need among Israelis abroad for interaction, idea-exchange, cooperation and recognition. It was the first time that Israelis from around the world came together to share their community building initiatives experiences and challenges, to learn from each other about their relationships with the local Jewish community, and to explore ways to enhance their relationship with the State of Israel.